Obama stumps for vulnerable congressman

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama campaigned for an endangered Democrat in Virginia yesterday and tried to rally his party nationwide ahead of Tuesday's elections.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama campaigned for an endangered Democrat in Virginia yesterday and tried to rally his party nationwide ahead of Tuesday's elections.

Predictions of a Republican blowout dogged the president and his party, as voters looked to punish incumbents for joblessness, bailouts and the toxic state of politics. Republicans were looking to recover from recent electoral lashings by claiming the House and making big gains in the Senate, governors' mansions and legislatures.

Obama was campaigning for Tom Perriello, a first-term congressman who won by the narrowest of margins two years ago and then loyally backed Obama on signature bills to spur the economy and overhaul health insurance. Obama was addressing a nighttime rally in the college town of Charlottesville, Va.

But the stop was meant as more than a boost for Perriello, who is in a fierce election fight against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt. The president also wanted to send a message to fellow Democrats and ambivalent supporters that not only would he stand with those who took tough votes but that his party should not be embarrassed by its record of the past two years.

"It's clearly payback for being a loyal foot soldier for the Pelosi-Obama agenda," shot back Hurt, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who stands to lose that leadership position should Republicans pick up the 40 seats they need.

Obama set out on his final round of campaigning for Tuesday's election as official tabulations showed more than 11.6 million voters nationwide already had cast ballots.

In Nevada, more than 339,000 ballots had been cast in an early-voting period, shattering the total of 244,000 in the midterm election four years ago. The state has the nation's most closely watched Senate election, pitting Majority Leader Harry Reid against Republican Sharron Angle, who won her nomination on the strength of tea party support.

The results of the elections seem sure to alter the course of Obama's presidency and change the debate on issues that include taxes, education, immigration, energy and federal spending.

The outcome also will set the tone and political landscape for Obama's 2012 re-election bid.

In a final pre-election economic snapshot, the government reported that national output grew slightly faster in the past three months, at a rate of 2 percent. Yet that's not enough to produce enough jobs to reduce unemployment.

Obama, speaking at a metal company to push one of his job-growth proposals, pledged anew to speed up the recovery.

"Political season is going to be over soon," the president said. "And when it does, all of us are going to have a responsibility, Democrats and Republicans, to work together wherever we can to promote jobs and growth."

Both sides geared up for their final get-out-the-vote pushes in key states. Pelosi, in a fundraising e-mail, said the outcome of many races was too close to determine and "that story will be written in this weekend."

In Washington, Democrats asked congressional staffers to head to West Virginia to help Gov. Joe Manchin win a tight Senate race. Republicans sought volunteers to head to Ohio to help defeat Gov. Ted Strickland.

The two parties saw bright spots in early voting results.

Jen O'Malley Dillon, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, said more sporadic-voting Democrats - and first-timers - were casting ballots than sporadic-voting Republicans.

Republicans, meanwhile, were arming volunteers in Nevada and Colorado this weekend with iPads to collect information in real time from voters as they knocked on about 300,000 doors in each state.

Obama will be campaigning today in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Illinois. His last big event will be Sunday in Ohio before he returns to Washington.